Introducing myself!

plaidfrogg

Hi! My name is Kelly & this is my 1st post to The Nest. I work full time so I am a very busy mom with 2 little girls:  16 mo. old and 3 yrs old.  We live in San Diego and love it, but are ready for a change. DH has been interviewing for a position in PDX and all indications point to an offer in the next few weeks. They're flying us up there at the end of the month....a final interview for DH and an opportunity for us to explore the area for a couple of days.  He also just got a call about a position in Houston....I'm much less excited about Houston, so I'm hoping he'll find Portland to be a better fit.

I have oodles of questions about Portland and the area but haven't found any reliable interactive resources to get information. Is this an ok place to post my questions...or is this more of a social discussion? Either way, I wanted to say "hi" as I may follow along, and possibly make a move to the area in the next few months.

Cheers,
Kelly

LisiLynn

Hi Kelly,

Welcome to the Oregon Board. Ask anything you want.

plaidfrogg

Thanks! I'm not even sure where to start. I guess my first order of business may be to figure out where to live when we get there.  DH's job would be out by PDX airport. There is a good possibility I may be able to transfer my job to the area, but that office is near Hillsboro.  We know almost nothing of the local layout (except what can be seen on maps) but it looks like those two areas are pretty far apart. What neighborhoods would be good to consider in terms of distance & commute? We're not necessarily looking to live right in the middle between the two...I'm guessing traffic patterns flow a east in the a.m.? In that case, it may make more sense for us to live near downtown and then I'd have the longer commute, but at least it'd be against the flow, yes? no?  

Also, we currently live in an older semi-urban neighborhood, lots of craftsmans, spanish mission, etc....we really love the character and charm, and especially proximity to things like grocery store, fine dining, and parks, all within walking distance.  I don't expect to necesarily find all of those options in one area in Portland, but if you know of any...especially within the aforementioned geographic parameters, I'd love to know! We've seen many homes for sale online that look attractive--both old and new--but without being there, it's tough to know what their neighborhoods are like, the amenities, proximity to certain features, etc.  Because of this, I think we will likely rent for a few months so we have time to look around and get a feel for what would work. Are there certain neighborhoods I should look at (or steer clear of) for renting (a house)? It doesn't have to be too fancy, just nice, cozy, with space for the kids and, ideally, access to parks/play areas.

Going back to the neighborhood thing (I know, I'm all over the place, but multi-tasking at the moment, so just trying to jot this all down)....what neighborhoods are considered desirable? I know this is a broad question as "desirable" is subjective. What I have in mind is something like the area we live in now, and those adjacent:  homes with character, centrally located, lots of parks, etc.  While we love our area, some of the downsides are that it's less family-focused, schools aren't good, etc.  I'm willing to forego home character for an area with more young families and good schools.

I hope that made some sense.    DH & I are likely going to come up at the end of the month for a couple of days, so I'm hoping there may be some areaas recommended here that would help us narrow our field as we check out the area.  Of course, any links to other online resources would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Kelly

zelda25

I think there are a lot more "desirable" areas in portland than there are "undesirable," so without knowing what price range you're looking at, it's hard to give you concrete recommendations.

About the city and its layout: it's divided into quadrants--NW, SW, NE, SE (and North--I guess that's five areas, not four).  The Willamette river divides E and W, and Burnside Street divides N and S.  Generally, the West side is more expensive, and the primary "downtown" area is in SW, by the river. 

Judging from how you describe your current neighborhood, and if you can spend in the $400K-$700K range, you might zero in on the Irvington or Laurelhurst neighborhoods (which are close-in NE); I suggest having a look at the Portland craigslist link and plugging those neighborhood names into the search function on the real estate listings, just get get an idea of what the homes are like in those areas. 

Your husband's commute probably won't be too bad regardless of where you live because he'll be going against traffic.  You, on the other hand, will have it a little rougher driving out to Hillsboro, but there's always MAX (light rail)!

erelwi

It really depends on your traffic tolerance. For getting to the airport area, commuting from NE Portland in the morning won't be too bad most of the time, but the evening commute back towards downtown can be really slow. Getting to Hillsboro from NE means crossing the river and going through the Vista Ridge tunnels, both of which can get very backed up. DH works in Hillsboro (we live in Beaverton) and he has several coworkers who commute from NE. It takes them between 45 minutes and an hour most days, they say, but I think they are being optimistic. Living in Beaverton or Hillsboro would make your commute faster, but your husband's commute to the airport would be pretty bad, as in over an hour and much longer if there's an accident or some other problem.

Not to be discouraging, I know that most people who move here from southern California or bigger cities back east find our traffic to be really easy. We do have a great light rail system that might work for you, depending on where your work places are located. However, with two little girls you will probably want to be a short drive from home or childcare.

Portland is a really nice place to live and raise a family!

plaidfrogg

Thanks for all of the great feedback! Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be moving to Portland after all. Dh was one of the 2 final candidates for the position, but they ended up going with the other person, who's from the area and quite a bit older (more experience) and for a quite a bit less than DH would have accepted. We don't know what the reasons were, but the decision certainly yielded a big cost savings for them (lower salary, no relocation or recruiter costs). Too bad b/c all of the feedback had been really glowing so I'd started to really think in terms of a move there. I love what I've seen so far and am disappointed it didn't work out.  I really feel a draw to the Pacific NW so hope to be up there some day soon.

Cheers!
Kelly